alt.hn

5/11/2026 at 9:35:38 PM

Griffin PowerMate driver for modern macOS

 https://github.com/jameslockman/Griffin-PowerMate-Driver

by classichasclass

5/12/2026 at 2:57:10 AM

Would be great if it could do other things, like be a volume knob, or do media play/pause, given that scrolling and mouse button press seem like things you already have a mouse to do?

by zdw

5/12/2026 at 7:08:50 AM

This begs to be able to send MIDI events!

by lloeki

5/12/2026 at 12:06:01 AM

Yippy! I feel like I'm 15 years younger

by dmwood

5/12/2026 at 9:19:31 PM

The powermate driver still works. My powermate is hooked up to my mac studio. I'll try this one; the real one doesn't init on restart, so I have to open it to get the throbbing.

by mannyv

5/12/2026 at 12:35:40 AM

>Of course, modern controllers exist that offer many more literal bells and whistles...

Anyone have a favorite 'modern controller' for those of us who no longer have a PowerMate?

by maroonblazer

5/12/2026 at 2:22:41 AM

I don't have one, but Ploopy's knob is intriguing (https://ploopy.co/knob/).

LilyGo/TTGo also has some interesting knobs with some unusual features features (force feedback or LCD touchscreen on top of the knob, depending on model) but again I don't have firsthand experience and these might take some DIY

by Rebelgecko

5/12/2026 at 5:39:01 AM

Surprised Loupedeck hasn't come up here. The Live and CT both have weighted main dials with real damping — which is what made the PowerMate feel different from a regular rotary encoder, more than the software integration ever did. Pricier than most of what's been mentioned, but the closest I've found to the tactile feel. Everything in the sub-$50 range (Drok, generic Aliexpress encoders, etc.) works fine for mapping to volume or scroll, but they all feel like plastic clicky knobs. Fine for utility, not for fidgeting.

by Taewoong1378

5/12/2026 at 1:27:04 AM

Microsoft Surface Dial is nice. You'll also need to write a driver...

by lukeh

5/12/2026 at 2:14:21 AM

As usual there is very very very good Linux support for a device (this device, the MS Surface Dial), better than anywhere else. https://github.com/daniel5151/surface-dial-linux

Some are calling it the most obvious trend of all computing. And that was before the agentic age super put its finger on the cosmic scales of justice+hacking.

by jauntywundrkind

5/12/2026 at 1:45:12 AM

There was a poster on HN a while ago that recommended¹ the Drok USB volume knob because it can be reconfigured to send keystrokes or mouse actions. Just Google for "configure drok usb volume control knob" for instructions. I reconfigured mine to send mouse scroll events for scrolling through documents.

¹ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31702940

by ThrowawayR2

5/12/2026 at 1:00:23 AM

Surface Dial is a good hardware target.

by eksu

5/11/2026 at 10:57:57 PM

I have one of these all I need to do is find it.

by detourdog

5/11/2026 at 11:12:34 PM

Literally thinking the same thing. I have one somewhere... Haven't seen it in twenty years

by donatj

5/12/2026 at 5:59:17 AM

This is awesome. I know I have one someplace that I stopped using because of lack of drivers, now all I need is to find it :)

by rcarmo

5/12/2026 at 12:40:37 AM

I love this. PowerMate was the ultimate fidget tool when not scrolling, editing, etc.

by TheAtomic

5/11/2026 at 11:15:19 PM

I have one of these and now all I need to do is find a reason to use the Mac.

by timnetworks

5/12/2026 at 12:05:57 AM

Damn I always wanted to one of these! So cool

by haunter

5/12/2026 at 1:29:36 AM

I check eBay from time to time, they are usually very expensive.

by _-_-__-_-_-

5/12/2026 at 6:34:47 PM

Same...

by haunter

5/12/2026 at 8:09:33 AM

I was wondering whether BetterTouchTool would support the PowerMate, and I sure didn't get disappointed: https://community.folivora.ai/t/griffin-powermate/30169

Disclosure: I have no idea whether this would still work, and I have no way to find out.

by Cockbrand

5/12/2026 at 1:28:05 AM

I have one of those, but never used it too much—if the button got pressed while my Mac was asleep, it immediately woke up and kernel panicked. I don’t know if there was something odd about my machine or my particular PowerMate or what?

by mcphage

5/12/2026 at 7:15:08 AM

I have two of these, near-permanently affixed to my Zynthian .. but now I think I want another one for the desktop. Anyone know of similar devices available currently?

by aa-jv

5/11/2026 at 11:19:44 PM

Lol I wrote a new driver for the bluetooth one a few months ago.

by fzzzy

5/11/2026 at 11:05:59 PM

Curse you! Now I have to go clean out the attic to find mine.

by joshmarinacci